According to Ayurveda, the choices made during the first 42 days postpartum influence a woman’s health and ability to care, mother, and be a partner for the next 42 years. In the Ayurvedic recovery process, it takes 42 days to reach, nourish and rejuvenate the deepest levels of our tissues.

Birth is a profound experience. During the birthing process, all channels open up. This experience gives us a unique window of opportunity to completely rejuvenate and reach a new level of health, even better than before pregnancy. At the same time, being this open, our bodies and minds are very vulnerable during the weeks after birth. As a consequence, deep-seated imbalances can manifest – if we are not taking care of ourselves. Vata is at an all-time high in the first few weeks after birth, and we need to gently nurture ourselves back to balance with soupy grounding foods and nourishing oil massages (abhyanga). 

The digestion is weak and delicate after birth, too. Therefore, Ayurveda recommends starting off eating rice broths, soups and other easy to digest foods. Then you can slowly introduce more solid and harder-to-digest food over the 42-day postpartum period. Following this routine, you can establish a strong and healthy metabolism that can assimilate the nutrients present in the food at an optimum level – nourishing yourself and your baby (via your breastmilk). 

Everything mum eats can get passed onto the baby. Passing on nutrients and other metabolised substances explains why breastfeeding women should avoid drinking alcohol or taking certain medications. Ayurveda makes use of this process by ensuring that mum’s digestion and nutrient uptake perform at an optimal level. Certain teas and herbs advised for mum also help the baby’s digestive and immune system to develop. 

Ayurveda also talks about immune health in the postpartum period. Like all other systems, our immune system is compromised directly after birth and takes a while to re-build through nourishment and herbal support. 

As you can see, a lot of healing takes place in these initial weeks of being a mother. In an ideal world, we create a calm and healing environment for this time. Traditionally, a woman would not leave her house for six weeks after giving birth, receive a daily massage from relatives, have freshly cooked, easy-to-digest food prepared for her every day. In our modern world, this much support is not a given, but we can still get close to this ideal scenario: We can only leave the house when absolutely necessary (for check-ups, for example). Whenever you leave the house, you want to Vata-proof your outing for you and baby, i.e. always cover your head and ears. Ears are the seat of Vata and exposure to cold or wind can aggravate Vata. Take a warm drink with you and avoid rushing. You can also put a drop of warm oil in your nostrils and ears as extra soothing protection. 

As for your daily massages, this is something you can do yourself and maybe book a massage therapist to come to your home at intervals you can afford. It can be so nourishing being massaged by somebody else. If you cannot find a professional, maybe one of your family members would like to take on that role? 

In terms of food, make sure friends, family and your partner know what kind of meals you would like to eat, maybe even send them some recipes. Most postpartum meals are super easy to prepare, can be kept warm in a thermos, and you can have them throughout the day. Also, consider investing in a slow cooker. You or your partner can prepare everything in the morning, and you have warm, nourishing food available for the whole day. 

We hope this helps you to get an idea about the approach to postpartum recovery in Ayurveda. Feel free to book a consultation with Seema, if you would like further support.